Editing St. Albans, Queens (section)

==== <span class="anchor" id="Addisleigh Park"></span>Addisleigh Park subsection ====
[[File:Addisleigh Park 01.JPG|thumb|right|275px|Houses in Addisleigh Park]]
[[File:Addisleigh Park 02.JPG|thumb|right|275px|Welcome sign]]
Within St. Albans is the small western enclave of Addisleigh Park, a U.S. [[Historic district (United States)|historic district]] that consists of single-family homes built in a variety of styles between the 1910s and 1930s. Though originally intended as a [[housing segregation|segregated]] community for [[white people]] only, from the late 1930s many notable [[African Americans]] have lived there.<ref name=LPC /> Today, it remains a predominantly African American and Jamaican enclave that is more upscale than surrounding areas in southeast Queens.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/queens-neighborhood-gains-landmark-status/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1 |title=Addisleigh Park, Historic Black Neighborhood in Queens, Gains Landmark Status |first=Alice |last=Speri |work=The New York Times |date=February 1, 2011 |access-date=June 20, 2014}}</ref>

Between 1900 and 1940, the village of Addisleigh Park was developed by a handful of eminent white entrepreneurs including Edwin H. Brown, Gerald C. English, and Alexander Rodman.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cowan|first=Jane|title=Addisleigh Park: Enclave of Greats in African-American History, Wholly Intact 20th Century Garden City Suburb and Site of Important American Housing History|url=http://learnfrombuildings.com/wp-content/uploads/addisleigh-park-report-jane-cowan.pdf}}</ref> Restrictive covenants were established to prohibit the sale of any of its properties to blacks.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Legacy of Addisleigh Park|url=http://www.theroot.com/multimedia/legacy-addisleigh-park|work=The Root|access-date=January 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125151122/http://www.theroot.com/multimedia/legacy-addisleigh-park|archive-date=January 25, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> A 1926 ''New York Times'' article insists, "Addisleigh, together with the St. Albans Golf Club, was laid out under the personal direction of Edwin H. Brown, and carries a land and house restriction of the highest type."<ref>{{cite news|title=Queens Lots Lead in Suburban Sales|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 6, 1926}}</ref> Two lawsuits were filed successfully by white residents who accused their neighbors of breaking the contractual segregation imposed on the neighborhood by its developers. Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the New York Historic Districts Council, says about this backlash, "It was unpleasant, as it was a case of a number of narrow-minded neighbors trying to fight what they saw as an invasion of unwanted people in their area."<ref>{{cite web|last=McNamara|first=Elizabeth|title=New York's Finest Black Suburb|url=http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/story-of-the-week/2011/new-yorks-finest-black.html|publisher=National Trust for Historic Preservation}}</ref> Affluent white New York City-based public figures moved into Addisleigh Park to experience the privacy of suburban seclusion. Addisleigh Park boasted well-kept rows of [[Tudor architecture|Tudor]] and [[Colonial architecture|Colonial]] homes. The neighborhood's close proximity to Manhattan allowed for quick and frequent commuting. During the [[Swing Era]], Manhattan's [[52nd Street (Manhattan)|52nd Street]] served as the epicenter of [[Swing Era]] live entertainment and musical innovation. For this reason, many successful African American jazz musicians began to recognize Addisleigh Park as the newest suburban haven for wealthy, influential artists.

In 1948, the United States Supreme Court ruled that racially restrictive covenants violated the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment, though by that year, Addisleigh Park had already become a haven for world-famous African Americans in jazz and sports.<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news|title=Historic Black Enclave in Queens Gains Landmark Status|url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/queens-neighborhood-gains-landmark-status/|access-date=January 22, 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> The neighborhood was declared a historic district by the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission]] in 2011.<ref name="LPC">{{cite web|title=Addisleigh Park Historic District Designation Report|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/2405.pdf|publisher=NYC.gov|access-date=January 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224081542/https://www1.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/2405.pdf|archive-date=February 24, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>